Truck



TRUCK Filed July 22, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O N v Feb. 19, 1946. R. B. COTTRELL TRUCK Filed July 22, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 19, 1946 TRUCK Robert B. Cottrell, Chicago, llll., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, 11]., a cor "poration of New Jersey Application July 22, 1943, Serial No. 495,684!

9 Claims.

My invention relates to railway car trucks and more particularly to a well-known type of truck incorporating a ride control feature wherein friction shoes are supported on certain of the bolster supporting coil springs and are urged into irictional engagement with the side frame columns by means of oppositely sloping wedge surfaces on the bolster.

The object of this invention is to design a ride control trucksuch as above described with a quick wheel change feature incorporated therein, whereby the bolster may be elevated in the bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change while the spring group and friction shoes remain in normal assembled relationship with the side frame.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway car truck embodying my invention, and Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken in the transverse vertical plane indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure l, with the bolster shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the truck with the side frame columns illustrated in section, and Figure 4 is a sectional view taken in the longitudinal vertical plane indicated by the line iii of Figure 3.

Describing my invention in detail, the side frame comprises tension and compression members 2 and i merging adjacent each end of the frame with a column d defining with said members a window opening 8 and a bolster opening iii with a widened upper portion indicated at it (Figure l). Beneath the bolster opening the tension member is formed of box section with the top chord i3 thereof widened and formed with upstanding inboard and outboard flanges it and,

it affording convenient positioning means for the bolster supporting coil spring group seated on said top chord it which is provided with spring positioning mosses id, id.

The bolster supporting spring group comprises the main springs iii, iii and an auxiliary spring 22 disposed at each end of the group and adording support for a friction shoe, generally desighated it, each shoe having a substantially vertical wall 25 in frictional engagement at 28 with a column-mounted wear plateiili, and each shoe also comprises a diagonal wall 32 in complementary wedge engagement at 34 with a diagonal wall 36 integrally formed with the bolster, generally designated 38, said bolster being seated as at W on the main springs 20, 20.

It may be noted, as best seen in Figure 4, that iii the bottom wall 42 of each friction shoe 2i is formed with a spring positioning boss it for reception within its supporting spring 22, and it may also be noted that the diagonal wall 3? of each shoe is crowned to afford a rocking action thereof against the abutting bolster wall 36, and said diagonal wall 32 is relieved or recessed as at d6 at its upper extremity to ailord clearance from the adjacent lower corner of the bolster as the same is elevated and removed from the top of the bolster opening during a quick wheel change, as hereinafter described.

The bolster dd is a generally box-like struc ture including the top wall til, the bottom wall 5t, and the spaced side walls 52, 52, and said bolster is provided with a pocket in each side thereof for the reception of the associated friction shoe it, said pocket being defined by the inboard and outboard walls 56 and t6 and by the before-mentioned diagonal wall 36. At opposite sides of each pocket the bolster is provided with inboard and outboard column guide lugs 53 and 6d, and it will be clearly seen in Figure 1 that the outboard lugs lid, 6% are of less depth than that of the widened upper portion it of the bolster opening, whereby the bolster may be elevated therein and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change.

It will be understood that as the bolster is elevated from engagement with the friction shoes t l, it, said shoes will move upwardly by the action of the associated spring '22 a distance approximately that indicated at A in Figure 1. This upward movement of the shoes is of course caused by the fact that the springs 22, 22 are compressed by the bolster acting through the shoes 2 3, it and, as the bolster is disengaged from said shoes, the springs 22, 22 expand to urge the shoes upwardly as indicated at A. In order to accommodate this upward movement of the shoes and at the same time to obtain the necessary clearance for the removal of the bolster from the top of the bolster opening, each shoe is provided with the before-mentioned relief or recess 66, said recess being formed and arranged to afford clearance for the adjacent lower corner of the bolster as the same is removed from the top of the bolster opening. It will be understood that, if desired, the shoes may be keyed within the bolster pockets by any conventional keying means and may thus be removed from the side frame bolster opening along with the bolster. However, it is a principal object of this invention to provide an arrangement, as above described, whereby the bolster may be removed from the bolster opening while the shoes remain in normal assembled relationship with the bolster supporting springs, thus facilitating a quick wheel change.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment bf the device shown which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims,

I claim:

1. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a box-section bolster supported on certain of said springs of said group and having on each side wall thereof inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, a pocket in each side wall of said bolster between the associated inboard and outboard guide lugs, friction shoes in said pockets supported from other springs of said group, each of said shoes having a substantially vertical wall presenting a flat friction face in frictional engagement with friction means on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, and each of said shoes having a diagonal wall with a wedge face in complementary engagement with wedge means in the associated pocket, each friction face being of substantially the same depth as that of said bolster, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs, the width of said bolster being less than the distance between the vertical walls of the friction shoes at opposite sides thereof, and each of said diagonal walls being relieved at its upper extremity to afford clearance from said bolster as it is elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change, said shoe supporting springs being compressed by the static load of said bolster through a lesser distance than the depth of the relieved portions of said diagonal walls.

2. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a box-section bolster supported on certain springs of said group and having on each side wall thereof inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, said bolster being of greater depth than that of said widened upper portion, a pocket in each side wall of said bolster between the associated inboard and outboard guide lugs and friction shoes in said pockets supported on other springs of said group, each shoe being in complementary wedge engagement with means in the associated pocket and each shoe having a flat face in frictional engagement with a friction surface on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, each of said faces being of substantially the same depth as that of said bolster, said shoes being movable upwardly by their supporting springs to points closely adjacent the widened upper portion of the bolster opening as said bolster is elevated from engagement with said shoes, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs and each of said shoes being relieved on the bolster engaging side thereof to afford clearance for said bolster as it is elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change, the relief of said friction shoes extending vertically through a greater distance than that through which said shoes are moved upwardly by their supporting springs when said bolster is elevated from engagement with said shoes.

3. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a box-section bolster supported on certain springs of said group and having on each side wall thereof inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, a pocket in each side wall of said bolster between the associated inboard and outboard lugs, and friction shoes in said pockets supported on other springs of said group, each shoe being in com-- plementary wedge engagement with means in the associated pocket and each shoe having a flat face in frictional engagement with friction means on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, each of said faces being of substantially the same depth as that of said bolster, said shoes being movable upwardly by their supporting springs to points closely adjacent the widened upper portion of the bolster opening as said bolster is elevated from engagement with said shoes, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs and each of said shoes being relieved on the bolster engaging side thereof to afford clearance for said bolster as it is elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change, the relieved portions of said shoes being of greater depth than the distance through which said shoes are moved upwardly by their supporting springs as said bolster is elevated from engagement with said shoes.

4. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a box-section bolster supported on certain springs of said group and having on each side wall inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, a pocket in each side wall ofsaid bolster between the associated inboard and -outboard lugs, and friction shoes in said pockets supported on other springs of said group, each shoe being in complementary wedge engagement with means in the associated pocket and each shoe having a flat face in frictional engagement with friction means on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, said shoes being movable upwardly by their supporting springs to points closely adjacent the widened upper portion of the bolster opening as said bolster is elevated from engagement with said shoes, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs and each of said shoes being relieved on the bolster engaging side thereof to afford clearance for said bolster as it is elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom. during a quick wheel change, the relieved portions of said shoes being of greater depth than the distance of said upward movement.

5. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a box-section bolster supported on certain of said springs of said group and having on each side wall thereof inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, a pocket in each side wall of said bolster between the associated inboard and out-' board lugs, friction shoes in said pockets supported from other springs of said group, each of said shoes having a substantially vertical wall presenting a flat friction face in frictional engagement with friction means on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, and each of said shoes having a diagonal wall with a wedge face in complementary engagement with wedge means in the associated pocket, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs, the width of said bolster being less than the distance between the vertical walls of the friction shoes at opposite sides thereof, and each of said diagonal walls being relieved at its upper extremity to afford clearance from said bolster as it is elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change, said shoe supporting springs being compressed by the static load of the bolsterthrough a lesser distance than the depth of the relieved portions of said diagonal walls.

6. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, a spring group on said frame in said opening, a bolster supported on certain springs of said group and having on each side wall thereof inboard and outboard guide lugs for engagement with inboard and outboard surfaces of the adjacent column, a pocket in each side wall of said bolster between the associated inboard and outboard lugs, friction shoes in said pockets supported on other springs of said group, each shoe being in complementarywedge engagement with means in the associated pocket and each shoe having a face in frictional engagement with a friction surface on the adjacent column extending transversely of said frame, each of said faces being of substantially the same depth as that of said bolster, said widened upper portion being of greater depth than that of the outboard of said lugs, and each of said shoes being relieved on the bolster engaging side thereof whereby said bolster may be elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change, said shoe supporting springs being compressed by the weight of said bolster through a lesser distance than the depth of the relieved portions of said shoes.

7. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, resilient means on said frame in said opening, friction shoes supported from said means in frictional engagement with surfaces on respective columns extending transversely of said frame, a bolster having pockets in the side walls thereof receiving said shoes, said pockets havi'ng oppositely sloping wedge means engaging complementary wedge means on respective shoes, said bolster having on opposite sides of each pocket inboard and out-- board guide lugs cooperating with each column, said outboard lugs having a depth less than that of said widened upper portion, and said shoes being relieved at the upper ends thereof to afford clearance from the bottom of said bolster,- whereby the latter may be elevated in said bolster opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change while said resilient means and said friction shoes remain in normal assembled relation ship with the side frame, said resilient means being compressed by the load of said bolster through a distance less than the depth' of the relieved portions of said shoes.

8. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, resilient means on said frame insaid opening, friction elements pockets in the side walls thereof receiving said elements, said pockets having wedge means engaging complementary wedge means on respective elements, said bolster having guide means independent of said wedge means and cooperating with each column to interlock said bolster with said side frame, said guide means having a depth less than that of said widened upper portion, and said friction elements being relieved adjacent the upper ends thereof to afford clearance from the bottom of said bolster, whereby the latter may be elevated in said opening and removed therefrom during a quick wheel change while said elements and said resilient means remain in normal assembled relationship with the side frame, said resilient means being compressed by the load of said bolster through a lesser distance than the depth of the relieved portions of said friction elements.

9. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns and an intervening bolster opening with a widened upper portion, resilient means on said frame in said opening, friction elements supported from said means in frictional engagement with surfaces on respective columns extending transversely of said frame, a bolster having pockets in the side walls thereof receiving said elements, said pockets having wedge means engaging complementary wedge means on respective elements, said bolster having guide means independent of said wedge means and cooperating with each column to interlock said bolster with said side frame, said guide means having a depth less than that of said widened upper portion, and said elements being afforded clearance from the bottom of said bolster in its elevated position within said opening, whereby the bolster may be removed therefrom during a quick wheel 

